Under the terms of the PPA contract signed by the companies, supplies will begin on 1 February 2018 for a long-term period, covering over 70% of Aguas Chañar’s needs in the Atacama region for consumption in a number of installations.
This 100% renewable electricity will avoid the emission of 26,500 tonnes of CO2 from thermal power plants per year, based on the energy mix of Chile.
All the energy supplied by Acciona will come from the company’s renewable installations in Chile, where it currently operates a 246MWp photovoltaic plant (El Romero Solar) in the Atacama Desert and a 45MW wind farm (Punta Palmeras) in the region of Coquimbo. It is now building a second wind farm with a capacity of 183 MW in the Araucanía Region.
Aguas Chañar, the exclusive integrated water cycle management rights holder in the Atacama region, works in the production and distribution of potable water and the collection, management and disposal of wastewater in the area. It provides a service to more than 270,000 people in nine municipalities in Atacama and operates 13 potable water treatment plants and 9 wastewater treatment facilities.
Acciona Energía Chile general manager José Ignacio Escobar said: “It is a great satisfaction for us to work with Aguas Chañar to supply 100% sustainable electricity supplies without any carbon footprint that are guaranteed by our renewable assets in Chile.
“We are grateful for their trust in us, and that of other large Chilean companies, as this allows us to strengthen our corporate client portfolio in the country."
Aguas Chañar general manager Claudio Bitran highlights the milestone of being the first company in the potable water production and distribution in Chile to supply more than 70% of its electricity consumption from non-conventional renewable energies.
Bitran said: “This agreement ensures that our main processes function with clean energies and that we can take a step forward in caring for the environment by reducing our carbon footprint per liter produced. From now on, we can say that we are not only helping to produce water in the world’s most arid desert but doing it with clean energy, thanks to the endless sunshine in the Atacama region”.
To date, ACCIONA Energía has signed major purchase and sale contracts for renewable energy with corporate clients in Chile, for example, with Google for power supplies to its data center in the country, and with the distribution chain Falabella to supply around a hundred stores belonging to the group and its subsidiaries.
The company has also signed supply contracts with all the distributors and cooperatives in the country following the energy bidding procedure for regulated customers under the “2013/03 2nd call” and “2015/01” tenders.
